Kourou, French Guiana - September 30, 2015 - Arianespace successfully launched two satellites this evening: Sky Muster for the Australian operator nbn (National Broadband Network) and ARSAT-2 for the Argentine operator ARSAT. Today's launch was the ninth of the year in nine months, a record for the Arianespace launcher family, and the fifth of the year and 68th successful launch in a row for the Ariane 5 heavy launcher. It lifted off at 5:30 p.m. local time from the Guiana Space Center (CSG) in Kourou, French Guiana. Sky Muster will help reduce the digital divide on this nation-continent, by guaranteeing high-speed Internet access to more than 200,000 Australians living in rural and isolated areas of the country. It will cover the entire country, including Norfolk, Christmas, Macquarie and Cocos islands. ARSAT-2 is the second satellite for the state-owned telecommunications company, ARSAT, and will enable Argentina to further develop and consolidate its own space telecom system. ARSAT-2 will cover the Americas, providing direct-to-home (DTH) TV transmissions, Internet access via VSAT antennas, data transmission and IP telephony services.

Arianespace successfully launched two satellites this evening: Sky Muster for the Australian operator nbn (National Broadband Network) and ARSAT-2 for the Argentine operator ARSAT.
Photo courtesy of Arianespace

Kourou, French Guiana - September 30, 2015

Arianespace successfully launched two satellites this evening: Sky Muster for the Australian operator nbn (National Broadband Network) and ARSAT-2 for the Argentine operator ARSAT.

Today's launch was the ninth of the year in nine months, a record for the Arianespace launcher family, and the fifth of the year and 68th successful launch in a row for the Ariane 5 heavy launcher.
It lifted off at 5:30 p.m. local time from the Guiana Space Center (CSG) in Kourou, French Guiana.

Arianespace is proud of its role in providing sustained support for these two new regional operators, based in two great southern hemisphere nations, whose primary goal is to deliver the benefits of space to all of their citizens.

Arianespace and nbn team up to reduce the digital divide in Australia

Arianespace is especially proud of being chosen to launch the Australian operator nbn's first satellite.

Sky Muster will help reduce the digital divide on this nation-continent, by guaranteeing high-speed Internet access to more than 200,000 Australians living in rural and isolated areas of the country.
It will cover the entire country, including Norolk, Christmas, Macquarie and Cocos islands.

Sky Muster is the 52nd geostationary platform built by SSL (and predecessors) to be orbited by Arianespace, which has 13 more satellites from this manufacturer in its launch manifest.

The Ariane 5 ascends from the Spaceport in French Guiana with a dual-satellite payload of Sky Muster and ARSAT-2.
Photo courtesy of Arianespace

ARSAT-2 is the second geostationary satellite to be built and operated by Argentina.

The company INVAP was in charge of its design and integration, as well as the production of certain components.

Using space to improve life on Earth

With the launch of these two strategic satellites for two great nations from the southern hemisphere, Australia and Argentina, Arianespace confirms its goal of providing its customers with the best possible transport solutions to help space-based systems improve life on Earth.

Shortly after the announcement that the two satellites had been injected into orbit, Arianespace Chairman and CEO Stéphane Israël said: "We are especially proud of our mission success this evening for two regional operators in the southern hemisphere, nbn and ARSAT, and we have already established real partnerships with both customers. With 400 satellites launched since its beginning, the Ariane family can celebrate a real ‘Triple A’ achievement this evening for Australia, Argentina and Arianespace. Thanks go to our clients for their confidence, and bravo to SSL and INVAP for their contributions to this success.”

"This evening also marks the ninth launch in nine months for our family of launchers, in line with our goal of carrying out 12 launches in 2015. I would like to thank all our partners who have contributed to this 68th consecutive successful launch of Ariane 5: ESA, responsible for the Ariane program; all European companies who contribute to Ariane under the direction of industrial prime contractor Airbus Safran Launchers; CNES-CSG and companies at the launch base; and of course the men and women of Arianespace, who continue to demonstrate their commitment and professionalism."

The Ariane 5 ascends from the Spaceport in French Guiana with a dual-satellite payload of Sky Muster and ARSAT-2.
Photo courtesy of Arianespace

Two telecommunications satellites that will provide expanded relay capacity for Australia and Argentina were orbited today on Arianespace’s ninth mission in 2015 – putting the company on track to perform a record 12 flights this year using its three-member launch vehicle family, which consists of the heavy-lift Ariane 5, medium-lift Soyuz and lightweight Vega.

Lifting off exactly on time during a daylight departure from the Spaceport in French Guiana, the heavy-lift Ariane 5 utilized for today’s mission deployed its Sky Muster and ARSAT-2 satellite passengers during a 32-minute flight sequence.
It marked the 82nd mission overall using Arianespace’s workhorse launcher, as well as the 68th consecutive Ariane 5 success.

In post-launch comments, Chairman and CEO Stéphane Israël confirmed that Arianespace was on pace for a record-setting operational performance this year (12 flights from the Spaceport in 12 months), and also highlighted the company’s continued commitment to quality.

“Launch after launch, success after success, Arianespace demonstrates its capability to increase its launch rates while remaining the most reliable space transportation solution for all customers, whether commercial and institutional, whether GTO or non-GTO,” he said.

Further extending Ariane 5’s track record of highly accurate payload delivery, the estimated orbital parameters at injection of its cryogenic upper stage for Flight VA226 were:

- Perigee: 249.2 km. for a target of 249.5 km.

- Apogee: 35,911 km. for a target of 35,927 km.

- Inclination: 5.99 deg. for a target of 6.00 deg.

Launch of the first nbn satellite

The first-released passenger on today’s mission was Sky Muster, which is the initial satellite to be operated by nbn™ – a service provider owned by the Commonwealth of Australia.
This company’s objective is to ensure all Australians have access to fast broadband as soon as possible, at affordable prices and at the least cost to taxpayers.

Built by Palo Alto-based SSL (Space Systems Loral), Sky Muster is scheduled to operate from geostationary orbit.
It is designed to deliver broadband services to more than 200,000 rural and remote Australians, providing coverage to the entire country – including the Norfolk, Christmas, Macquarie and Cocos islands.

Launch of nbn’s second spacecraft also has been entrusted to Arianespace, which was recognized in further comments from Israël.

“We know how critical these satellites are for the nbn project, and therefore we are very grateful for being recognized as the reference launch solution in your development plan,” he added. “We will be on track to deliver into orbit your second satellite next year.”

“A huge amount of work has gone into this moment, and thousands of people across the world have worked tirelessly to make this launch successful,” said Dr. Ziggy Switkowski, Chairman of nbn Co Limited, in his post-launch comments. “It’s a significant moment for all of us Australians and truly a historic moment for our country.”

Photo courtesy of Arianespace

Continued success with ARSAT

Completing today’s mission was the deployment of ARSAT-2, which is the second of three geostationary satellites that will increase Argentina’s telecommunications capacity and guarantee the same level of connectivity quality across the country’s regions.

Arianespace successfully orbited the first of these relay platforms – ARSAT-1 – on an Ariane 5 flight in October 2014.

Built under the responsibility Argentina’s INVAP, ARSAT-2 will be operated by the state-owned Argentinian operator ARSAT (Empresa Argentina de Soluciones Satelitales Sociedad Anónima) to provide direct-to-home (DTH) television, Internet access services for reception on VSAT antennas, along with data transmission and IP telephony.

Arianespace will have the opportunity to go “three-for-three” after concluding a launch contract for the third ARSAT telecommunications satellite – ARSAT-3.

Signed at the Spaceport just hours before Flight VA226, this agreement also includes options on two more missions.

ARSAT Chairman and CEO Matias Bianchi – who spoke after the confirmation of today’s success – thanked Arianespace for another on-target mission, and added that ARSAT-3 is scheduled for launch from the Spaceport in 2019.

Arianespace’s Israel expressed his gratitude to both ARSAT and INVAP, and gave a special word of thanks to the Argentinian government – which was represented at the Spaceport byJulio de Vido, Minister of Planning and Public Investment.

Photo courtesy of Arianespace

Wrapping up a record 2015

Following today’s success, Arianespace’s mission pace will continue with its next two flights from the Spaceport, both of which are to be performed during November: a heavy-lift Ariane 5 launch with the Arabsat-6B and GSAT-15 payloads (Flight VA227); and a mission with the light-lift Vega carrying Europe’s LISA Pathfinder (Flight VV06).

Arianespace at a glance

Arianespace was founded in 1980 as the world’s first commercial satellite launch company. Its shareholders include Airbus Safran Launchers, the French space agency CNES, and all European space companies, representing 10 European countries.

As of January 1, 2015, the company had 329 employees, at corporate headquarters in Evry, at the Guiana Space Center (CSG) - launch site for Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega - and at local offices in Washington DC, Singapore and Tokyo.

In 2014, six launches of Ariane 5, four launches of Soyuz at CSG and one launch of Vega generated a turnover of 1,399 Million EUR.

Moreover, 14 satellite launch orders have been awarded to Arianespace.

Since its creation, Arianespace has signed contracts with 93 customers worldwide carrying out 221 Ariane launches, 37 Soyuz launches (11 at CSG and 26 at Baikonur via its subsidiary, Starsem) and the four first launches of Vega.

More than half of the commercial satellites in service today were launched by Arianespace.

Operations

Arianespace provides launch services to commercial satellite operators and government space agencies around the globe based on a complete family of launchers:

• The Soyuz medium-size launcher (10 successful launches out of 11); Soyuz is also operated at Baikonur with Starsem (26 commercial launches, all successful).

• The Vega light-weight launcher (four successful launches).

Capitalizing on its complete family of launchers with proven reliability and availability, Arianespace’s healthy order book currently has contracts with 35 different customers, equal to more than three years of business:

• 11 Vega launches, including 1 for ESA in the frame of the VEga Research and Technology Accompaniment (VERTA) program.

In 2015, at least twelve launches are planned to be performed at CSG: six launches of Ariane 5, three launches of Soyuz and three launches of Vega.

Based on impressive launch performance and a large backlog of orders, Arianespace is the world’s leading launch company, capturing much more than 50% of the commercial satellite launch market year after year.